That’s the most impressive thing, his most significant accomplishment.

The kid we’ve questioned plenty – and he’s given us ample reason -- since he was assigned the hopeless task of replacing a legend is redefining his career with every game in which he not only thrives but survives.

31-28 to Texans at home
20% (608)

20-17 at Titans
6% (194)

27-17 at Raiders
10% (311)

30-24 (OT) at Redskins
55% (1655)

20-16 at Dolphins
8% (250)

“Those were tough yards,” Mathews said of his 29 carries for 127 yards this past Thursday at Denver. “We battled for those yards. It was fun. That’s what a running back wants.”

And when this topic that has followed him like a rain cloud was directly broached, when he was asked what he is most proud of this season, it is clear what matters most is not the yards or touchdowns or even the increased carries, but what they represent.

"It feels good to be able to keep going,” Mathews said Monday. “The last few years I’ve done it here and there. To be able to do it each week, that is what feels good.”

So said the guy whose five 100-yard games are tied for most in the NFL this season, who just put together back-to-back games in which he carried a career-high 29 times in a span of five days, whose 236 carries through 14 games are a career high for a season, whose 14 games match a career high for a season.

So, yeah, can we stop talking about Ryan Mathews being fragile? Can we celebrate his newfound good fortune and sturdiness and the Chargers’ newfound willingness to let him push those limits?

Mathews has talked for months about learning how to run and figuring out how to take care of his body. Of it finally paying off, he delivered the same message as when he wasn’t getting the ball– that it’s a team game. Monday, he praised the line and the receivers for their blocks and Philip Rivers for some prescient audibles.

Rivers has been talking about a new look in Mathews’ eye and tone in his voice and strut in his stride since the spring.

“You just saw a confidence, and I just felt like he was ready to have his best year, and he has done that,” Rivers said Monday. “It's been impressive. The way he has been running, getting to the second level and always falling forward, it's always fun to watch him do it."

I wrote in November that if the Chargers were not going to use Mathews, they should not keep him in 2014, the final year of his contract -- that it was time to forget the fumbles and cross your fingers about the injuries and make this talented kid the go-to guy.

That column came in the immediate aftermath of a loss at Washington in which Mathews did not get the ball on even one of the Chargers’ three failed attempts to score from the 1-yard line in the fourth quarter. He was coming off successive 100-yard games, was running as consistently strong as in any of his four seasons and yet carried the ball just seven times that day, once in the second half.